APA Assignment: Leadership Style Reflective Essay NUR 514 APA Assignment: Leadership Style Reflective Essay NUR 514

 The current nursing practice continues to evolve in multiple aspects in response to the complex patient needs. This evolution requires nursing professionals and leaders to understand their abilities and apply strengths appropriately. Self-assessments are highly effective for nurses to understand their behaviors for healthy relationships with others and professional excellence. Self-awareness also helps nurses to adjust appropriately and work on their weaknesses. The purpose of this paper is to discuss my self-assessment results and leadership application in nursing.

Summary of Self-Assessment Selections and Results

Various tests provide different information about individual behavior, strengths, and weaknesses. The first test selected for the self-assessment was the emotional intelligence test. Lambert (2021) described emotional intelligence as a critical success factor for effective nursing leadership and management characterized by the ability to understand one’s feelings and effectively respond to those of others. Hence, this test was chosen to evaluate my ability to deal with emotions. The other test was the learning styles assessment through the VARK (visual, aural, read/write, and kinesthetic) questionnaire. Since nurses should continually improve their knowledge and skills, understanding how they learn best is essential for professional growth and development. The third test was the cultural competence self-test. In health care delivery, cultural competence involves awareness of the influence of social and cultural factors on patients’ health choices (Kaihlanen et al., 2019). I selected this test to assess my ability to deal with culturally diverse individuals and groups.

Self-assessment results accurately reflect nurses’ strengths and critical improvement areas. The emotional intelligence test revealed my type as the empath. With a score of 80/100 (self-awareness) and 96/100 (empathy), I can easily understand and empathize with the emotional experiences of others (Appendix A). Concerning learning styles, I am multimodal: visual- 7, aural- 4, read/write- 2, kinesthetic- 7 (Appendix B). On cultural competence, I scored highly (50/54) in the evaluation areas, particularly communication (Appendix C). These scores will help me to maximize my strengths for effective patient care and leadership while addressing my underperformance areas.

Leadership Style Aligning with my Philosophy of Care

Nursing leaders use different approaches to influence policies, decisions, and patient care outcomes. Concerning my philosophy of care, health professionals should prioritize patient needs and ensure adequate resources and preparedness to respond effectively. Accordingly, the primary purpose of nursing is to address patient needs through active interactions, support, and empathy. The servant leadership style aligns with my care philosophy since it emphasizes serving others. As Canavesi and Minelli (2022) stated, servant leaders put others’ needs first, implying they do not prioritize their concerns. Such an approach is crucial for patient-centered care, where the treatment plans are tailored to address the patient’s specific needs.

Prioritizing others’ needs appeals to me the most about servant leadership. The implication is that servant leaders are determined to explore others’ needs and ensure their interests do not prevent them from achieving the desired organizational goals. The other encouraging attribute of servant leadership is such leaders’ commitment to the growth of their followers. Servant leaders prioritize their followers’ growth, well-being, and empowerment to foster an inclusive workplace (Thao & Kang, 2020). Inclusivity and a desire to cooperate with colleagues are vital in care coordination and for successful interdisciplinary care.

 

Incorporating Elements of the Leadership Style

Successful leadership involves implementing aspects that maximize outcomes and instill the right values. One way of incorporating servant leadership elements while exercising leadership is prioritizing others’ needs before mine. A suitable example is when workers are overwhelmed, and I assist accordingly to prevent burnout. Another way of incorporating servant leadership in routine practice is promoting positive interactions to serve others for the greater good. For instance, embracing teamwork to address a patient’s complex needs comprehensively aligns with the fundamental principles of servant leadership.

Self-Improvement Areas and Steps to Improve Leadership Capabilities

Current and emerging nursing leaders should work on their weaknesses to improve their productivity and influence. A key improvement area based on the assessment results is the emotional control aspect of emotional intelligence, where I scored 19/100 (Appendix A). Improving this area is essential for effective control of emotional experiences. Malinowska-Lipie? et al. (2021) underlined the importance of emotional control to enable individuals to overcome negative experiences, job stressors, and bad moods that can inhibit their productivity and interprofessional interactions. I should improve in this construct by identifying activities that cheer me quickly and implementing them regularly. Self-care practices such as meditation and exercise therapies will also help me avoid bad moods as I strive to become a better leader overall.

Characteristics of Effective Professional Nurse Leader

Nursing can only succeed when driven by forward-thinking leadership. An effective professional nurse leader should excel in communication, problem-solving, and integrity. Communication involves information transmission to guide nursing teams in executing their routine tasks. Besides preventing workplace conflicts, effective communication skills foster positive patient and staff experiences (Brooks et al., 2019). Excellent problem-solving is primarily about the leaders’ ability to formulate measures for overcoming obstacles. Therefore, nursing leaders should be advanced in analyzing and solving practice problems. Integrity involves being honest and integrating the appropriate ethical principles in leadership. These characteristics are vital for effective leadership in nursing since healthy leaders-followers relationships depend on clear communication. The implication is that excellent communication enables employees to work productively to realize organizational goals. Workplace problems, including technology challenges, inadequate workforce, and burnout, require excellent problem-solving skills. Integrity ensures nursing leaders instill a positive workplace culture and that followers look upon them for guidance, mentorship, and everyday support.

Application of Leadership Theory and Different Personal Style

Leadership theories and styles influence nursing leadership differently. The transformational leadership theory’s fundamental principle is motivating employees towards a shared vision through idealized influence (Saad Alessa, 2021). As a result, a transformational leader envisions a particular outcome and motivates followers to achieve it by working together for a common purpose. Besides idealized influence, transformational leadership is characterized by intellectual stimulation, individual consideration, and inspirational motivation (Saad Alessa, 2021; Khan et al., 2020). The implication is that transformational leaders recognize the contribution of their followers in realizing organizational goals and fostering collaboration. Such leaders continually empower and motivate their followers to prevent conflicts and cultivate a spirit of teamwork for shared decision-making. As a result, the transformational leadership style is effective in workplaces where the staff members have diverse skills, values, and strengths. The nurse leader capitalizes on the strengths of team members and groups them to work optimally, increase productivity, and achieve high job satisfaction.

Conclusion

The present nursing practice requires forward-thinking and committed nursing leadership. Such leadership is excellently positioned to motivate and empower the workforce while addressing workplace issues. Self-awareness is critical for nursing leaders to understand their behaviors, strengths, and weaknesses. I will continue working on my weaknesses for personal growth and development in critical areas like leadership, patient care, and interprofessional relationships.